Brazil may leave WHO; G20 pledges $21bn fund

CAIRO: As the global Covid-19 death toll crossed 400,000, the Group of 20 rich and emerging economies pledged more than $21 billion to fight the pandemic.

“The G20, with invited countries, has coordinated the global efforts to support the fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. To date, G20 members and invited countries have pledged over US$21 billion to support funding in global health,” the group said .

The pledges will be directed towards diagnostics, vaccines, therapeutics, and research and development, the statement added. In April, the group had called on all countries, non-governmental organisations, philanthropies and the private sector to help close a financing gap estimated at over $8 billion to combat the pandemic.

President Jair Bolsonaro, meanwhile, threatened to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organization (WHO) after the UN agency warned Latin American governments about the risk of lifting lockdowns before slowing the spread of the coronavirus throughout the region.

With over 35,000 lives lost, the pandemic has killed more people in Brazil than anywhere outside of the US and the UK. Brazil’s health ministry reported late on Thursday that confirmed cases in had climbed past 600,000 and 1,437 deaths had been registered within 24 hours, the third consecutive daily record. Brazil reported another 1,005 deaths on Friday night. Bolsonaro said Brazil will consider leaving the WHO unless it ceases to be a “partisan political organisation”.

China has upgraded the protection of the pangolin, believed

GLOBAL DEATHS to be the intermediate host of the coronavirus, to that of the firstclass protected animals, on par with the endangered species like giant pandas.

Pangolin meat is viewed as a delicacy in China and its scales are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicines. After initially (BY CASES) suspecting the snake and the bat for the spread of Covid-19, Chinese scientists believe the pangolin may be an intermediate host of the coronavirus to humans. The contagion was believed to have been spread from Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan.